Born in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku, Otomaru Kodo dedicated his professional life to the art of carved lacquer, and in 1955 was designated a Living National Treasure for his skills. Here he has created an almost impossibly delicate representation of poppy flowers and seed heads using the kinma technique. 

Having completed the basic maroon-coloured tray, Otomaru has carved the overall stylised design into the surface of the lacquer. A single, central, flowerhead is emphasised by the addition of gold leaf. The whole is given 3-dimensionality through thousands of fine lines and minute incisions of varying density to achieve the illusion of receding planes. The carved design is then overlayed with white lacquer which, when polished back, remains solely in the incisions. It is a design of great movement, the fragile flowers seemingly swaying before us, while a single stem rises beyond the confines of the tray. 

Showing his work for the first time at the Teiten of 1932, Otomaru was thereafter a regular exhibitor, his work gaining honourable mentions in 1942 and 1949, and from 1955 his work was exhibited annually at the Japan Crafts Association, Nihon Dento Kogeiten. Works by him are extensively held in Japanese and Western museum collections.